Judge Appoints Investigator

Commonwealth Attorney challenger criticizes filing.

Whether Jonathan Moseley lives here or not is still in question, a matter to be decided by special prosecutor Andrew Parker.

Moseley, Republican candidate for Commonwealth Attorney, said he moved to Loudoun County earlier this month from Arlington and listed the address of 42525 Braddock Road and the community of South Riding as his residence in his Statement of Organization for a Candidate, filed on March 7.

General Registrar Judy Brown sent out a voter registration card to the address and received it back stamped as "attempted not known, unable to forward." She sent out a second card, which Moseley said he has received and she said has not arrived back at the Office of the Registrar.

Moseley told Brown he had not completely moved in but is living at the address, which according to county land records is on Ticonderoga Farms, home of Peter Knob. "It’s absurd to have to go through all these things," he said.

Board of Elections Secretary Dianna Price contacted the state elections board and was told to submit the information she has to the Commonwealth Attorney. She sent the information with a letter dated March 19 to Owen Basham, deputy Commonwealth Attorney, including a copy of Moseley’s Statement of Organization, voter registration application and an envelope with his returned voter card. Price said Moseley has not submitted a candidate qualification form and statement of economic interest, which are due at later dates.

"We followed through with what we were required to do, but we have no opinion one way or another," Price said. "We didn’t make any conjectures. We don’t have any opinions."

BASHAM RECEIVED Price’s letter on March 21 and that same day presented the information to Judge Thomas Horne of the Loudoun County Circuit Court. The court appointed Parker to investigate the case.

Moseley filed a response, stating that on April 4, he will move the court on two motions: false information was submitted to the Commonwealth Attorney’s office and the appointment of a special prosecutor based on the false information "is obviously an abuse of the Office of the Commonwealth Attorney for personal advantage and private purposes during an election campaign." Moseley said he did not file a candidate qualification form and that the Commonwealth Attorney’s office "lied" about the existence of the form, basing the court order on the false claim.

"The Commonwealth Attorney’s office lied to Judge Horne," Moseley said. "I thought it was very uncharacteristic of a meticulous judge like Judge Horne."

Horne’s staff said he does not talk to the press and made a referral to Gary Clemens, Clerk of the Circuit Court, who also would not comment.

"Bob Anderson seems to make it his career to attack Sheriff [Stephen] Simpson and other opponents rather than prosecuting crime. I don’t know why that is, but I think there’s lots of voters who would like an alternative," Moseley said.

Anderson refused to comment about Moseley’s statement and the claim that the Commonwealth Attorney’s office "lied."